St. Louis will play host to hundreds of cyclists and 30,000-40,000 spectators for the 2022 Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup, a series of races that will take place over Labor Day weekend starting on Friday, September 2 and concluding on Monday, September 5. The four-day races span four St. Louis neighborhoods including Lafayette Square, The Hill, Francis Park, and Benton Park.
Participants in this year’s event include the top professional race teams from across the United States. This includes the Legion of Los Angeles, LA Sweat, and DNA Pro Cycling Women’s teams and the Legion of Los Angeles and Project Echelon Men’s teams. Many more will be announced in the days leading up to the event.
The Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup will also welcome a maximum of 300 professional racers, 150 men and 150 women, such as US National Cycling Champion Kendall Ryan, US World Championship team member Brandon Feehery, Junior World Championship Silver Medalist Skylar Schneider, and local professional racer Ashley Weaver, among many others.
“St. Louis is home to the best and most exciting cycling events in the country,” said Mike Weiss, event organizer and owner of St. Louis-based Big Shark Bicycle Company. “Several years ago, the Gateway Cup earned Pro Road Tour status with USA Cycling, and is now the final event on the American Criterium Cup calendar, and in turn, tens of thousands of spectators each year who watch the race and join in on the festival-like environment that’s created throughout the host neighborhoods. We’re proud to welcome back Bommarito Audi West County as this year’s Title Sponsor, and we thank them for their commitment to helping bring exciting events like this to St. Louis and continuing to build our city’s reputation as a premier race destination.”
This year, nine races will take place each day, with professional men’s and women’s competitions, as well as amateur rides that cyclists of all ages, skill levels, and abilities can participate in.
A number of the amateur rides, including the daily kids’ races which benefits the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America – St. Louis, raise money for a variety of local non-profits. Six hundred riders are expected to participate during the course of the weekend’s events, with over 2,200 starts.
Professional cyclists will be riding the streets of St. Louis in laps called criteriums, an Americanized racing style featuring one-mile laps. Spectators will experience groups of cyclists passing by at average speeds of 30 miles per hour every few minutes. Cyclists will compete for cash prizes totaling $70,000.
“The Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup is an exciting event for cyclists and spectators alike,” said Weiss. “The speed and skill of the cyclists takes first-time fans by surprise, and always impress. St. Louisans appreciate sports, and they recognize that they are seeing something special. Our announcers are the best in the business, and the crowd gets pulled into the action and informed by the ‘play-by-play.’ You can’t help but cheer. That’s why we’re the best sports city in the country.”
A complete schedule of events and registration can be found online on the Bommarito Audi West County Gateway Cup website.
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